‘Kastom’ is a handy portmanteau, a catch-all term. Often, it’s used to distinguish between everything Melanesian and things that come from elsewhere. All too often, the term is used to divide us, not unite us.

We want to keep our political and economic independence? Should we allow ourselves—and our sovereignty—to be dominated by a foreign country dictating to us how to collect our taxes and to be accountable?

It’s always someone else’s fault. Even when we were kids, it was always little brother or sister who stole the cookies, spilled the milk or woke the baby. Then you went to school, and it was the kid at the desk behind you.

Tax is a very important part of the social fabric. It is supposed to facilitate governments and institutions, finance social projects and public services. It finances the law and order that people have come to expect in a ‘western’ society.

In March this year, Florence Lengkon, manager of Vanuatu Helicopters, spoke out on social media against the aggressive behavior of bus drivers after rocks were thrown at a tour bus full of overseas passengers.

‘No taxation without representation’ was the rebels’ rallying cry during the American War of Independence. Business owners in Vanuatu are worried that they too may be asked to carry a greater tax burden without being allowed adequate input into the framing process.

On Wednesday this week, Airports Vanuatu Ltd, or AVL, quietly published a quarter-page advertisement in the Daily Post requesting expressions of interest to construct new international and domestic terminals at Bauerfield airport, along with what they coyly refer to as ‘associated infrastruc…

National ICT Days are once again upon us, and the Daily Post is proud to be participating. We’ve been selected as a finalist for the ICT innovation award, thanks to an interactive tourist information product we built in collaboration with vSolutions. It’s a great example of the technological…

As an icon, it is compelling, a source of unalloyed pride. The sweeping spiral of the national convention centre’s roof dominates Port Vila’s diminutive skyline. Airline passengers traversing the town see a graceful, stylised rendition of the nation’s flag. At the entrance stands a beautiful…

At 7:30 yesterday, a ship’s horn resounded across Vila Bay. The visiting cruise ship Pacific Dawn sounded a salute to the women of Vanuatu, in support of the hundreds of people gathering down beside Fatumaru Bay to begin a march calling for an end to violence against women.

There is more than one way to skin a cat, but when it comes to regulating anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism (AML-CTF) financing, there’s only one way: the FATF way. Regulatory framework on AML-CTF is almost worthless without effective implementation. The first ‘black’ listing of Va…

We thank Prime Minister Sato Kilman and his team for their contribution to this nationally important dialogue. We regret that it took the publication of our editorial to get a response, but any kind of talk—no matter how heated—is preferable to the silence that preceded it.

The well-known saying “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” stems from the reality that if one individual or group gets something at no cost, somebody else or society as a whole ends up paying for it.

o Mi harem se DIY is still alive. Somebody got fed up with the constantly recurring axel-bending pothole in the Centrepoint car park. An elderly man was spotted parking his truck, reaching into the back for a spade and using it to shovel loose gravel back into the wheel-breaker pothole. Clos…

“What did we ever do before Glad came along?” asked the sweet faced, apron-pinnied housewife in a 1960’s Australian television commercial as she dexterously pulled some of the new-fangled clear plastic sheeting called Glad Wrap off its roll to place over a plate of devilled eggs destined for…

o Mi harem se a pilot obviously wants to be an astronaut as he was caught doing a dangerous shuttle re entry in a popular bar toilet with a married woman who he was trying to send into orbit. Lucky the husband wasn’t around as the pilot would likely be on another planet by now. Mi harem se t…

Louis Daniel Smith, the person behind Project GreenLife (PGL), faces up to 34 years in prison after a US District Court jury in Spokane, Washington found him guilty of Conspiracy to commit the crimes of Misbranding with Intent to Defraud or Mislead; Smuggling and Defrauding the United States.